So, Kids, Here's How Ted Met The Mother (And Everything Went Wrong)

Midway through the series finale of How I Met Your Mother, I realized something: there are only two still-on shows I’ve watched longer than the Adventures of Bob Saget’s voice, The Simpsons and South Park. I’ve been a How I Met fan since day one, back in 2005, never missing an episode, even during the fallow years. Tonight’s finale was written for people like me: long-time fans who could shrug off the mistakes.

And I REALLY didn’t like it. I still need some time to work through everything that happened, but my gut reaction: it made this season (and parts of the entire series) sort of meaningless. We spent all season anticipating two weddings that effectively collapsed in a matter of minutes, but don’t worry, Ted will get to bang his children’s “aunt” and Barney will find meaning in some random, nameless girl’s accidental baby! I’ll still always love How I Met, and believe that people who felt betrayed by the titular gimmick were sort of missing the point, but the finale betrayed our expectations then appreciation of the Mother. She was a pawn in Ted’s game to get his queen, Robin. Also, poor Lily, having to cry in a whale costume.

Yeah, a lot of bad stuff happened. Maybe I’ll come around to accepting that this was what How I Met Your Mother was always going to be (Craig Thomas and Carter Bay have known how the show was going to end the entire time), but right now, it felt like fan-service that no fan actually wanted. What did you guys think?

So, Kids, Here's How Ted Met The Mother (And Everything Went Wrong)

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They stuck to a silly ending that they filmed many years ago for a show that had changed alot since. They should have called an audible and went with the ending we all know was better (the fan-created one you posted).

Ok so to the comments that life happens, it isn’t perfect (in regards to the mother dying) and that the show is called How I Met Your Mother not How I Spent the Rest of My Life Happily with Your Mother. You’re right it’s called How I Met Your Mother. He met the mother at the train station. End of story. I don’t need to know what they had for breakfast the next morning. Life does happen and it bla bla bla. But this was a comedy, not Breaking Bad. No need for twists and tricks. The show Friends wrapped it up nice and sweet and everyone loved it.

Ted did get over Robin. He did not settle fro Tracy, re watch the episode if needed (Lily). Tracy happened to die… tragedy happens, that’s life. Ted Was completely in love with Tracy, she was THE mother. His wife died and he moved on.

Barney and Robin getting divorced is pretty realistic. Love does not conquer all , that’s only for Disney.

The show wasn’t about Ted’s life quest to get Robin. Re watch the last minutes. The whole story (STORY not BIOGRAPHY) was meant for the kids to get their reaction/blessing for Ted to start dating again. If you understand that the narrative is purposefully eschewed to talk a bout Robin (from season 1) then you’ll understand why Robin seemed to be the center point. It’s no about Ted’s life quest to get Robin, the story is meant for the kids, to see their reaction and maybe nudged them into the idea, not for him or us.

Ted being Ted instead of directly asking his kids told them this crazy story of his life BEFORE he met their mother. True to his character Ted took the most roundabout way possible to see whether his kids would be ok for him to date again. Classic Schmosby.

Yes, he did end up with Robin, but not because she is the love of his life or she was meant to be the real “mother”. Ted went back to Robin because why not? she is single, no kids, hot and they already know each other.

I wasn’t actually mad about this but it was kind of crappy. I mean shouldn’t the kids or Ted be at least a little bummed when Ted talks about her dying? You’d think at least one of the kids would be upset that their dad glossed over their mother’s death after going into heavy detail about all the random crap his friends did and spent most of the time talking about the woman he’d have preferred to be with over their mother.

I actually called the finale almost scene for scene in season 7. As soon as the network extended the show for 2 more season after the season opener, the writing was on the wall.

What they should have done was have the finale be aired last week as part one of two of a series finale and have another episode air yesterday to tie up the loose ends.At least then, it wouldn’t have been as rushed.

I loved it, it always bothered me that Ted was telling a story about the love of his life Robin and he would never end up with her. It was an ongoing thing with all my friends who would give me shit about me wanted Ted to end up with Robin and how it won’t ever happen because she’s Aunt Robin.

Well I have the last laugh, and a nice quirky lady had to die to get there. BONUS!

You know, I was dreading the “twist” with the mother dying ever since it seemed likely but I thought they nailed it. All of the emotional beats landed for me, and I thought it was a satisfying conclusion.

I’m just glad its over to be honest. I loved seasons 2-4 and it should of ended around the 5 season mark. the last 3 seasons I’ve only stuck with because goddammit i started and i was going to finish. Usually i hate being one of the people who moans at how a show ends, but for me they got this so, so wrong. Personally I’ve never been a high Robin fan and the whole thing was really played out, and i was so glad when they seemingly brought the curtain down on it with that shitty balloon scene. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of big emotional reaches like centring it around the mothers death would of been, I feel it would of been more fitting with the feel of the show. Having lived up to a 9 season build up to the mothers reveal and making her pretty incredibly likeable as a character, for me it just didn’t make any sense to flush that and like 2 seasons down the drain and return to a storyline that the audience was sick to death of.

I think you missed the point of the show. It was all about the Ted’s journey that started with a blue french horn and ended with a blue french horn. The mother was an extremely important part of his life and he knows that. If she hadn’t died, we can safely assume he’d be with her forever.

Robin and Barney both knew they couldn’t stay together before they were married, but loved each other enough to want to make it work. Many couples face this problem and choose to ignore the signs and get married anyway. Vanity is the real reason 50% of marriages don’t work, and these two characters weren’t mature enough yet to realize that.

In the end, like his own kid’s said, the real story was about how Ted loved Robin from the 10th minute of the story, and we all knew that. If you didn’t realize this story was always about Aunt Robin, then you weren’t paying attention. If it had ended any other way, it would have been a cop out and wouldn’t have worked nearly as well as it did.

Are you one of the writers? How else do you know the point of the show. Or maybe you are just some condescending jack off with way too much time on your hands. Honestly, who over analyzes some dog shit show anyway?

I think @MulliganNY is dead on and Ted returning to pine over Robin does fit the overall theme of the show. I had to appreciate the blue french horn. However, I was really bothered by their path to get there during the episode. The mother character annoyed me all season but somehow once they got into her and Ted’s life on Monday I actually started to like her. And then they kill her off. Chalk it up to me being married with children I guess. My wife made a good point though. Her death was better than Ted leaving her for Robin. Robin on the other hand has been completely unlikable for a few seasons now and remained that way.

I liked that they didn’t go for the tear-jerker and have the end be all about the mother’s death. The finale made the point that life can be messy and painful, but if you’re a decent person and somewhat lucky you can still have some good things. And is it really so bad that Ted winds up with Robin in the end, when they’re both in a place where that’s good for them? Also, they gave Tracy the best line of the episode (at Robots v. Wrestlers, when she asks where Barney and the faceless baby mama are registered).

I did not like how they ripped apart the last two seasons in about two minutes.

That’s the thing, this could have been a very good ending if the events were spread out amongst a handful of episodes as opposed to just 40 minutes. It ended up rushing everything far too much and giving nothing the time it deserved.

There was a Smackdown once upon a time when all of the superstars were going to have a battle royal at the end of the show to determine the number one contender (or whatever). Edge couldn’t participate, because he wasn’t medically cleared to wrestle. So, throughout the shole show they go through the motions of promos and such for the match, and eventually, they go through the whole battle royal with Batista on the ring apron as the last one standing. All of the sudden, Vicky (Smackdown’s general manager) comes out and says Edge (her fiance) has been medically cleared to wrestle after all. He runs down to the ring, spears Batista right off the ring apron, and wins in 10 seconds. It’s a kind of great moment for Edge, but it pretty much negated the whole show, which was leading up to the battle royal without him.

That’s this season of HIMYM. If you know wrestling, you had to know Edge would end up involved somehow in the end, because it was hinted enough, and that’s how wrestling works. If you know HIMYM enough, you could probably follow some of the clues along the way and realize this was the direction they were heading. Nevertheless, it feels a little cheap when they just flip the switch in literally the last minute like that.

A better wrestling ending would have been at the Mother’s funeral, if her hand started to twitch and she got up out of the coffin and Death kept attacking her to no avail, and she turned around and beat the shit out of death and pinned him, and then “I Am a Real American” blared and the crowd went ape shit.

Priest: If there is anyone out there who has just cause why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.
Tracy: I do!
Marshall: What a minute, what’s that? Good God, Lilypad. That’s Tracy’s music?!

Tracy proceeds to tombstone the priest and that’s the first scene of “How I Killed Your Father”.

I would have been okay with the Mother dying, and I might have even accepted Ted ending up with Robin. What I couldn’t accept was the casual wiping away of almost two seasons worth of character development.

Barney maturing and wooing Robin, Barney and Robin growing as a couple, Barney and Robin overcoming their fears and getting married.

Ted gradually getting over Robin, Ted refusing to run away with her at the wedding, Ted telling her he “didn’t love her that way anymore”.

Why invest almost two seasons into building the relationship between Barney and Robin, only to wipe it out after 15 minutes of TV time and only 3 years in their time? Why show Barney maturing, then turn him into the “old” Barney almost immediately?

Why segue from the mother’s hospital bed to “laugh track” moment about Ted asking out Robin?

I can understand that the writers painted themselves into a corner by filming the ending several years ago, but the finale was poorly executed.

I’d offer that “why” is maybe because real world marriages fall apart just that easily and the reasons for Barney and Robin wanting to change but being unable to do so for each other seem pretty legit.

They also braced us for the mother’s death and Ted moving on like 5 episodes ago. It felt rushed, sure, but the episode was all about the “big moments” and we got those, save for maybe a funeral. Just a thought.

15 minutes in tv time, but 3 years in story time. And they went back to who they were before for a while but ended in different places – Barney a loving father and Robin (assumingly) ready to settle down with Ted. Just my take, though.

I’m not terribly happy Ted ended up with Robin, but I can’t understand all the hate being spewed in here. Are people pissed because they wanted a happy ending? While it might be depressing….this is how life goes more often than not. Marriages fail no matter how right they seemed at first, friends drift apart no matter how close they were at one point, and loved ones die long before they’re supposed to.

I thought it was done terribly, why did we spend all that time at Barney and Robins wedding and then years go by in a fucking blink in the last 15 minutes of the season? The ending conclusion is what I love though, since I’ve been calling it since forever.

Overall, it was about what I (and a lot of people) were expecting. It really didn’t disappoint me because this was never the best show on tv and it was time to go. It did a great job with fan service all season long, and even if they undid a wedding in minutes after spending a season on it – that actually felt about as realistic as could be. The wedding weekend was just a frame for most of the season (the last two, actually, right?) and they jumped out of it to other frames all. the. time. We saw Ted and the Mother:
Meet
Have their first date
Get engaged
Find out they’re pregnant
Get engaged again
Get married
Become and “old couple” while coping with her imminent death

They hit every typical plot point for a usual sitcom relationship and went further than normal to “death”, all with zero of the conflict or tropey silliness inherent to most sitcom romantic arcs – this mades her, and their relationship, perfect.

I wasn’t excited about the Robin bit, but it makes sense and works. Cue blue french horn.

“We’ve spent the whole season building towards this wedding and showing some character development for Barney, Robin and even Ted somehow, but DIVORCE!”

“And kids… That’s the story about how all I really wanted to do with my life was bang your Aunt Robin. I mean… Yeah, your mother’s there, but I really want you to focus on how I spent 15 or 25 years or however long it was pining for Robin.”

I have been with this show from the very beginning. Me and my wife would watch it while we dated and then have continued watching it as a show that we both mostly enjoy. However, last night’s finale made me hate that I spent so much time on this show.

The one thing that bothered me more than anything is the way that after 6 years, he is perfectly fine moving on and so are his kids. I am lucky enough to have a wife that I adore and we have 2 little boys who are great. If I was telling the story of how I met their mother when they were like 12 and 16 and she had died 6 years ago, I would be devastated if they reacted like that.

Its been mentioned a bunch of times here, but for them to build up this woman as the love of Ted’s life and then pass it off fairly quickly. Then end a marriage 15 minutes after it was started on the show, it just ruins a show for people who have watched it faithfully.

My only thought (and granted, I never lost a parent and my wife is still alive) is that if most of your life (that you can remember at least) has been without a mother, you’ve only had Ted as a father for 6 years, you love the lady he clearly carries a flame for and know he loved your mother deeply but fears most seeming disloyal to her memory, maybe you might cut him some slack and say “it’s okay to move on and try to be happy.”

Thinking back, I think Vesuvius is one of my favorite episodes of this show. The mother told Ted “life moves forward”. It might not have seemed like much, but everything we got from her, peppered through the show, down to her giving permission to him to move on after she dies, makes her about as perfect as I can imagine.

@tuggernuts gets it. I’m not that pissed about the finale anymore, even if they botched the execution. Conceptually it makes sense Ted can date Robin when they’re all old and stuff. They should have just given us a montage of time passing by so that it would be easier for the audience to swallow.

I really felt the rug was pulled from under me during the finale… it all happened way too fast. Instead of focusing Season 9 (and the intros and cliffhangers of multiple seasons before) on a wedding which fell apart in less than 10 minutes, I would have LOVED to have seen the subsequent years unfold over a season. That way I could get attached to Ted and the Mother as a couple and have some genuine feels over her death.

I should add though, that the first few minutes on the balcony made me laugh out loud more than this entire season, with the ET bit and Lily says “That was so creepy I could do without you for a while now” and when Ted and Barney infinity-fived… that’s the HIMYM I’ve missed for a long time.

A lot of people are complaining that the mother’s death felt rushed, but you have to remember this: even 6 years down the line, it would be incredibly painful for Ted to talk about, and for the kids to hear. They knew they’re mother died, they don’t need to be told it happened, especially as they both would have been old enough to remember it. Ted being with Robin at the end doesn’t invalidate the Mother’s existence, it just shows that he cares about her so much that he’s finally able to move on six years after the actual love of his live died. I agree that having Robin and Barney divorce like 20 minutes into the episode made the last 2 seasons seem pointless, but I really liked the end of this episode.

@Holy Shit Snacks not just that but the ENTIRE TIME they were SHITTING on him about telling them this story. It was absolutely retarded. Whenever my dad talks about my dead mother you only get hushed respect from me, not fucking sarcastic “Whatever dad!”

It wasn’t a truly terribly series finale, but it damn sure wasn’t satisfying. In comparison to the Psych finale from last week, that I actually cared about, this was just a whole lot of rushed nonsense that I honestly didn’t connect with in any way. When it was over, I deleted the series off my recording schedule and was just glad it was finally over. Now all I watch on CBS is sporting events.

Psych’s finale was awesome. This, in comparison, was refried dogshit. At first, we get Ted being Ted and ruining Barney & Robin’s big night by making it about him and leaving midway through the reception (dick move, cocksuckah), then we get the insufferable cunt old lady at the train station, Manic Pixie Dream Mother Ted Doesn’t Deserve (and Doesn’t Actually Want), Robin & Barney divorce for no reason, and someone REALLY needs to explain how a man like Barney hasn’t gotten snipped like 30 years ago. I lost my father seven years ago and the wound is STILL fresh, at no point would I act all nonchalant while my mom told me a story supposedly about my dad with him barely in it. I wonder if these writers even have human emotions?

OK, I know everyone is complaining about how rushed the season finale was blah blah blah but I think maybe what the problem actually was was the final season was not very good. 24 hours leading up to the wedding made for limited story telling. Oh and guess what Robin doubts her decision the entire time and keeps thinking I should probably be marrying Ted. Of course they got a divorce. She knew in her gut the entire time. On the other hand, the 24 hours taking so long could have symbolized the 24 hours leading up to Robin and Barney’s seeming like a year to Ted. The first time I watched an episode of this show I knew that Ted and Robin were going to end up together. I don’t know how anyone could stand to watch this show and actually think it’s about the mother. I can’t imagine watching a show for 9 years and only caring about the mother that the main character meets at the end. It would make the entire show pointless. If the mother was the point all anyone would need to do is watch the last episode. The point is about the journey. The point is he needs to become the man who is ready to meet the mother and do the kids thing. The point is Robin needs to become the woman who is ready to settle down and not feel like she is giving up her career for some guy. The point is Barney needs to grow to become a man who can look at a baby and tell her that he loves her and she is his everything.

Well that was quite the polarizing, messy ending. Team Blue Horn vs. Team Yellow Umbrella. People on these here comment boards need to calm down though.

On one hand, it makes sense considering Carter & Bays filmed the ending in like 2006. It was also kinda the most predictable ending ever. Yup, we all predicted the Mother dying. That was handled very well. But it also made me mad that we did not spend enough time with her… Cristina Milloti fucking killed it all season with such limited screen time and it really would have been great to see her hang with Ted all season. Instead, the ending seemed super fucking rushed. (And now I’m thinking we will hear some bullshit from Carter & Bays about how not spending time with her was intended so as to hammer home how fleeting her life with Ted was)

But really, letting Ted have his cake AND eat it too is way too neat considering the events of this past season. I thought it was a really good season about Ted moving on with his life and past Robin so that he could finally mature and settle down with the love of his life. Plus Barney grew alot and seemed to finally FINALLY settle down in a natural way. But instead they hit the reset button on all of that (and in Barney’s case it took 19 minutes, which kinda makes this whole past season a waste of time). Considering Ted fell for and moved on from Robin like 20 different times over the years, its kinda too neat to just let him date her after A) her marriage with (a renewed) douchebag Barney fell apart and B) the freaking awesome mother dies.

Meh, I don’t know. I don’t hate the ending, but I didn’t love it. All it does is just change your perspective about a bunch of the past episodes. Probably makes some better and others worse (ughhhhh the Zoey arc).

That said, man did I love the scene with Barney and his new daughter. That was one of the best parts of the episode. This finale was basically all about Ted and Barney (and everyone else in the background) and I guess its a success because it showed poor sad sack Ted finally happy and content for once and Barney finally committing to a woman. Too bad alot of the other stuff seemed too neat and predictable.

P.S. I guess having the name Tracy is a bad omen for the wives of main characters in big time comedy shows (also see Arrested Development).

It felt cheap and mean. “Hey, everyone, we’ve just spent all season showing you why Tracy is the love of Ted’s life and why it makes sense that she’s the one that he finally really goes the distance with, but now he’s a widower so he can end up with Robin who is actually the love of his life. Thanks for watching!”

Undoing character growth for Robin and Barney and giving Tracy the short end of the stick isn’t sitting well.

After sitting on it over night, I actually like what they were trying to do with the ending more. I really just wished they didn’t botch the execution by rushing everything so fast. If anything, they should have made half the season about the Wedding and the other half about everyone’s lives going down the shitter, followed by a finale where Ted decides to finally move on and try things out with Robin again (who at that point was down to settle down finally). Having the whole show be about having more than just 1 “The One” in your life is pretty neat (though I’m sure it can cause some cognitive dissonance for an audience so used to a Happily Ever After kind of ending). Carter & Bays just fucked up by actually finding a Mother who was just as likable as Robin was (causing so many people to reject the last scene) and negating an entire season in just 19 minutes with that divorce.

It wasn’t just that it was rushed. It was that they grew characters like Ted, Robin, and Barney for two seasons then basically reversed it all in 20 minutes. Had they not invested so much into the Robin/Barney marriage this might have worked a little better. Also, have Robin dating some people and not being miserable during the 10 or so years she was waiting around to be Ted’s security blanket.

I liked it. The mother had to die, like the kids said it didn’t make sense for a story that long to only be about her in the end. Being about him getting the kids permission made sense. And while we didn’t get to know her well I thought they did enough to show she was the prize and the love of Teds life. He waited 6 years, he’s gotta be close to 50, moving on doesn’t tarnish his love of the mother.

In a sad episode everyone got a happy ending. Barney and robin didn’t make sense, it’s sad but true. Robin got her career though and in the end she got Ted. Barney got a longer run as Barney and then a child to finally settle him down. Marshall and Lily we’re always gonna be okay.

To me this show always resonated with me as it had moments that mirrored my life, being close in age to the characters, and in the finale it touched on the hard part of growing up and drifting away from your old friends. And while drifting away still finding moments to be close as ever. It was always a comedy that found a way to address real things in an honest way.